Method of and apparatus for measuring strength of ultrasonic waves

Abstract

A method of and an apparatus for measuring the strength of ultrasonic waves are provided. They are capable of measuring the strength of ultrasonic waves easily and at low cost without using a sound pressure meter. The ultrasonic wave strength measuring apparatus has a particle source soaked in a cleaning liquid, an oscillator to generate the ultrasonic waves whose strength is going to be measured to vibrate the particle source so that particles are eluted from the particle source into the cleaning liquid, a counter to count the number of particles in the cleaning liquid, and an operation unit to find the strength of the applied ultrasonic waves based on the counted number of particles.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An apparatus for measuring strength of ultrasonic waves, comprising:
 a particle source soaked in a cleaning liquid and composed of particles that are eluted into the cleaning liquid by vibrating the particle source with ultrasonic waves so that a number of the eluted particles is linearly-varying according to a strength of the ultrasonic waves; 
 an oscillator configured to generate the ultrasonic waves whose strength is going to be measured to vibrate the particle source so that particles are eluted from the particle source into the cleaning liquid; 
 a counter configured to count the number of the eluted particles in the cleaning liquid; and 
 an operation unit configured to find the strength of the ultrasonic waves based on the counted number of eluted particles. 
 
     
     
       2. The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a memory configured to store a correlation table that correlates the number of eluted particles separated from the particle source with an ultrasonic wave strength, wherein 
 the operation unit finds the strength of the applied ultrasonic waves based on the counted number of eluted particles and the correlation table. 
 
     
     
       3. The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the memory stores a correlation table that correlates a particle number percentage with an ultrasonic wave strength percentage. 
     
     
       4. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the particle source is made of synthetic resin. 
     
     
       5. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the particle source is a tube configured to take the cleaning liquid from the cleaning tank, and
 the counter counts the number of eluted particles contained in the cleaning liquid taken through the tube. 
 
     
     
       6. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the cleaning liquid is pure water. 
     
     
       7. An apparatus for measuring strength of ultrasonic waves of an ultrasonic cleaner, wherein the ultrasonic cleaner serves to clean an object by applying ultrasonic waves to the object immersed in a cleaning liquid of the ultrasonic cleaner, the apparatus comprising:
 a particle source that is distinct from said object, is at least partially submerged in the cleaning liquid, and is composed of particles that are eluted into the cleaning liquid in response to ultrasonic waves that vibrate the particle source, wherein said particle source is configured so that a number of the eluted particles varies linearly according to the strength of the ultrasonic waves; 
 an oscillator configured to generate the ultrasonic waves whose strength is going to be measured; 
 a counter configured to count the number of eluted particles in the cleaning liquid; and 
 an operation unit configured to determine the strength of the generated ultrasonic waves as a function of the counted number of eluted particles. 
 
     
     
       8. The apparatus of  claim 7 , further comprising a control unit that determines when a predetermined time expires since the generated ultrasonic waves are applied to the cleaning liquid in which the particle source is at least partially submerged, and that enables the operation unit to use the counted number of eluted particles that are counted after said predetermined time expires. 
     
     
       9. The apparatus of  claim 7 , further comprising a memory configured to store a correlation table that correlates the number of eluted particles with the ultrasonic wave strength, wherein the number of eluted particles is a direct linear correlation to the ultrasonic wave strength; and
 wherein the operation unit determines the strength of the generated ultrasonic waves based upon a looked-up value in the correlation table for the counted number of eluted particles. 
 
     
     
       10. The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the particle source is comprised essentially of synthetic resin, wherein particles of synthetic resin elute from a remaining portion of the particle source in proportion to strength of the ultrasonic waves.